Too much of a good thing API

API’s are an amazing thing. They give us the ability to get into the core of a device or utility. But is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

If you are unsure API or Application programming interface is a set of protocols, tools, and subroutines that for building software that utilizes another set of software.

One of my best friends is an iOS developer. Every time Tim Cook hits the stage and starts talking about the next version of iOS he has a set of mixed emotion.

“And that’s not all! In this version of iOS, we’ve added over 5,000 new APIs that developers can use to make apps even more amazing!”

The first response, like everybody else, is excitement then reality sets in and he begins to start thinking:

“Fantastic another 5,000 new things to learn I am still working on the list of 3,000 that I never got around to last year”

Its a scary world out there even with all the changes iOS developers have seen, it’s nothing take for example what web developers deal with week in and week out. AngularJS vs. Ember vs. Backbone, Gulp vs. Grunt, Python, Ruby, Node, .NET, testing, build automation, mobile responsive layout, HTML5 video encodings…

Apple gives us so many tools a features Swift, HomeKit, Apple Watch, HealthKit, flat UI, adaptive layouts… but is there a point when there is too much of a good thing. I personally do not think so. What do you think? When is knowing too many languages a bad thing? Do you think a person could ever master all the languages out there?